Mono for Android Book has been Released!!!!!

If I understand things correctly, and I make no guarantees that I do, our Mono for Android book has been RELEASED!  I'm not quite sure what this means, but my guess is that that it has been printed and is being shipped to various book sellers.

So, if you have pre-ordered a copy, its now up to Amazon to send it to you.  Its fully out of my control, Wrox, Wiley, as well as everyone but Amazon.

If you haven't bought a copy already, why?  Seriously, go order 8-10 copies for the ones you love.  They'll make great romantic gifts for the ones you love.  Just think at the look on the other person's face when you give them a copy of our book.

 Here's a little about the book:

The wait is over! For the millions of .NET/C# developers who have been eagerly awaiting the book that will guide them through the white-hot field of Android application programming, this is the book. As the first guide to focus on Mono for Android, this must-have resource dives into writing applications against Mono with C# and compiling executables that run on the Android family of devices.

Putting the proven Wrox Professional format into practice, the authors provide you with the knowledge you need to become a successful Android application developer without having to learn another programming language. You'll explore screen controls, UI development, tables and layouts, and MonoDevelop as you become adept at developing Android applications with Mono for Android.

Develop Android apps using tools you already know—C# and .NET

Aimed at providing readers with a thorough, reliable resource that guides them through the field of Android application programming, this must-have book shows how to write applications using Mono with C# that run on the Android family of devices. A team of authors provides you with the knowledge you need to become a successful Android application developer without having to learn another programming language. You'll explore screen controls, UI development, tables and layouts, and MonoDevelop as you become adept at planning, building, and developing Android applications with Mono for Android.

Professional Android Programming with Mono for Android and .NET/C#:

• Shows you how to use your existing C# and .NET skills to build Android apps
• Details optimal ways to work with data and bind data to controls
• Explains how to program with Android device hardware
• Dives into working with the file system and application preferences
• Discusses how to share code between Mono for Android, MonoTouch, and Windows® Phone 7
• Reveals tips for globalizing your apps with internationalization and localization support
• Covers development of tablet apps with Android 4

Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

Now, go buy a bunch of copies!!!!!

If you are interested in iPhone and Android and would like to get a little more knowledgeable in the area of development, you can purchase the 3 pack of books from Wrox on Mobile Development with Mono.  This will cover MonoTouch, Mono for Android, and cross platform methods for using both tools.  A great package in and of itself.  The name of that package is: Wrox Cross Platform Android and iOS Mobile Development Three-Pack 

Mobile: Wrox Cross Platform Mobile Development - iPhone, iPad, Android, and everything with .NET & C#

Wrox has produced a bundle of their 3 best selling mobile development books and it is available as of Today (March 16). A bundle of 3 best-selling and respected mobile development e-books from Wrox form a complete library on the key tools and techniques for developing apps across the hottest platforms including Android and iOS. This collection includes the full content of these three books, at a special price:

• Professional Android Programming with Mono for Android and .NET/C#, ISBN: 9781118026434, by Wallace B. McClure, Nathan Blevins, John J. Croft, IV, Jonathan Dick, and Chris Hardy
• Professional iPhone Programming with MonoTouch and .NET/C#, ISBN: 9780470637821, by Wallace B. McClure, Rory Blyth, Craig Dunn, Chris Hardy, and Martin Bowling
• Professional Cross-Platform Mobile Development in C#, ISBN: 9781118157701, by Scott Olson, John Hunter, Ben Horgen, and Kenny Goers

Remember, go buy 8-10 copies of the 3 book set for the ones you love. They will make great and romantic gifts!!

Android Development with Mono for Android 4 - Training via AppDev

My Android Development with Mono for Android 4 Video Training Series via AppDev is out and available.  That's right, .NET/C# developers can now write native apps for Android devices. I hope that this is helpful to you as you get up to speed with Mono for Android.  Here is some info on the training:

This course will show you how to use Mono for Android 4 by starting with how to install Mono for Android 4, introduce the SDK tools and then debugging of applications. The course then will show how to use the Emulators for items like interface design and controls. Next are the different types of Android devices and how to support them. Application Activities and lifecycles are covered and then Menus, Tables and Data. The course will then show the soft keyboards, advanced controls, user notifications and working with the contacts lists. The course will conclude with working with device hardware for directions, multimedia and Geo location.

In this course, you will learn:

• How to set up an Android Emulator
• About Android application framework support
• How to debug using profiling with Traceview
• How to setup a virtual device for Android emulation
• To design screen layouts for Android tablets
• About the basic set of controls
• What are the different Android application states
• How options menu is used with Action Bar in Android 3.0 and higher
• About the different types of virtual keyboards
• What is a Toast Nortification
• What media types Android supports

Prerequisites: This course assumes that you are comfortable developing applications using Visual Studio 2010 and C#. Mono Android requires Visual Studio 2010 Professional or higher (and will not work with Visual Studio Express editions).

Installation of Mono Droid

• What is Mono for Android
• Mono for Android Installer
• Android SDK
• MonoDeveloper for Windows
• MAC Android SDK

Android SDK Tools

• Android Development
• Android Debug Bridge - ADB
• Dalvik Debug Monitor Server - DDMS

Android Debugging and Testing

• Android Ecosystem
• Debugging Operating System
• Android Debug Bridge

Android Emulator

• Setup an Emulator Session
• Features Available
• Multiple Emulator Sessions

Android User Interface Design

• User Interface
• Selection and Focus
• Layouts for Different Screen Sizes
• DroidDraw

Android Controls

• User Interface Basics
• XML Layout
• Images

Android Devices and their Support

• Screen Resolution
• Android Manifest
• Visual Studio Project Properties

Android Applications - Activities and Lifecycles

• Parts of an Application
• Activity Life Cycle
• Mono for Android Specifics

Mono for Android Menus

• Types of Menus
• Creating Menus via Text
• Creating Menus via Resources

Tables and Data

• Data Terms and Interchange Standards
• Web Services
• Displaying Data

Android Soft Keyboards and User Hints

• Input Types
• Hints

Advanced Controls

• Writing a Custom Control
• Drag and Drop
• User Input
• Toast Notification

Android User Notification

• Dialogs
• Notifications
• Toast

Address Book, Contacts and Content Providers

• Content Providers
• Address Book
• Calendar
• General Guidelines for Queries

Integrating with Device Hardware

• Sensor API
• Vibration
• General Pattern
• Turn by Turn Directions

Multimedia

• Play Video
• Play Audio

Android and Locations

• Location
• Proximity
• GeoCode
• Maps

Recording of the Mono for Android Webinar - Building a User Interface with Mono for Android

My webinar for last week on building a user interface with Mono for Android is now available online. The webinar covered:

We will look at the basics of building a user interface for Android with Mono for Android. The user interface is typically the first thing that a user sees when they work with your application. They will often judge your application based on the user interface. We will examine the basic concepts of UI design with mobile devices, the Android XML based layout language, some of the UI design surfaces for Android, some basic Android controls and finally some suggestions on creating a successful Android User Interface. 

PS. The file seems to stream properly in IE, but not elsewhere.  Oh well, I don't control the formats, so just use IE to view it.  

Webinar on Building a User Interface in Mono for Android

I'll be doing a webinar on Tuesday February 28th on Building a User Interface in Mono for Android.  A little bit about this:

We will look at the basics of building a user interface for Android with Mono for Android. The user interface is typically the first thing that a user sees when they work with your application. They will often judge your application based on the user interface. We will examine the basic concepts of UI design with mobile devices, the Android XML based layout language, some of the UI design surfaces for Android, some basic Android controls and finally some suggestions on creating a successful Android User Interface.

Start Using HTML5 today!

My article on HTML5 and some things that you can use today has gone online at the Dev Pro Connections web site.  Here's a snippet of it:

HTML5 is the direction for web-based applications. All you have to do is listen to the material from any technical conference or keep an eye on web developer online community discussions to know that HTML5 is important. Each day, I read about new and exciting HTML5 features and uses for those features -- witness the many new features in the latest versions of Internet Explorer (IE), Chrome, and Firefox.

Mobile application development is definitely where HTML5 has gotten its start, but HTML5 is not limited to mobile. Here, I will build on the information in "HTML5 for the ASP.NET Developer" along with many other great articles on HTML5 published in DevProConnections and delve into some of the HTML5 features that are available today and that you can use immediately to provide solutions for your customers now. In this article, we'll see what can be done in ASP.NET running in a modern web browser, such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and the recently released IE10. (As an FYI, in December 2011 Chrome 15 was named the most popular web browser version by StatCounter, though Internet Explorer is the most popular browser family.)

I want to thank several people for helping me with this article.  Honestly, there are several. I ran across a blog post by Lars Jarlvik last summer that I used as the roadmap for some work and this article as well.  I emailed with Lars about starting with his blog post and he was on board with this.  Many thanks to Lars.  Other folks that should be mentioned are my friends Dave Ward and Spike Xavier.  Both have been really helpful.  I have learned from them and grown professionally by associating with them.  I am forever in their debt.

Review of "Beginning iOS5 Application Development"

I was recently given the opportunity to review Wei Meng Lee's most recent edition of his beginning iOS programming series.  This book is entitled "Beginning iOS5 Application Development."  Admittedly, I know Wei Meng, so that may result in a little bit of bias.

As a developer targeting the iPhone and iOS, I have found Wei-Meng's books and knowledge helpful to me as I write applications, articles,and expand my own personal knowledge of iOS.  If you are anything but an expert developer in iOS, this is a good book that will help you develop and grow in iOS.  For example, I was looking for some animation examples recently and was able to easily understand Wei-Meng's examples and translate them into MonoTouch easily.

A little bit about this book:

If you want to develop apps for Apple's iPhone and iPad, first you need to know how to use the tools--iPhone's new iOS 5 operating system and SDK, and the new xCode toolset that come with it. This full-color book is the perfect starting point. Beginning developers, you'll get a solid introduction to the new xCode 4 and Objective-C and find everything you need to quickly build your first app. The book thoroughly covers all the new iOS 5 features, including new multitasking, location-based services, notification system, cloud-based features, and much more.

• Written by bestselling Wrox author, Wei-Meng Lee, this is an ideal book for beginning developers
• Helps eager developers quickly start building apps for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch
• Introduces iOS 5, xCode 4, Objective-C, and the basics you need to create your first Apple device app
• Covers a host of new iOS 5 capabilities, including new multitasking, new location-based services, and a new notification system
• Shows you how to work with iOS 5's cloud-based features for online storage of music, photos, and video